3 Answers

• Reputation: 1962 Q&A: 32 0 1 1965 663 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 2

  5 2 1. Read 2. Read 3. Read And if you really want to get good at choosing the right word, avoid genre fiction like fantasy, sci-fi, spy novels, and most bestsellers. The vocabulary is just too small. They're appealing to kids and adults looking for an easy good time, after all. When in doubt, stick with the classics. elenchos answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 2 comments by Emily Steed and Sphinx… 0 0 I was coming here to say exactly that. Aside from reading, a copy of Fowler's Modern English Usage might help. I think there might also be a "Modern American Usage" but I'm not sure. Emily Steed commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 I clicked to answer, and then found you had already provided the perfect response. It drives me crazy when I hear people using words that don't really work in context. Sphinx commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 1610 Q&A: 27 0 12 879 49 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  3 1 I assume you've read it over. If it's important to be especially clear, your next step is to have someone else read it to make sure that you're sending the message you intend. Only after your reader approves the wording do you send it out. This comment is based only on your word choices in your question: simple language is a lot harder to mess up than complex language. CleverScreenName answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 480 Q&A: 10 0 3 246 26 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  4 2 If you're talking about writing, just look it up in the dictionary. A good one will include usage notes and synonyms for easily-confused terms. I use dictionary.com a lot. Along the top tabs there's also a thesaurus. I open up a window for each when I write, and use them frequently, even for words I think I know. Another good online resource is visuwords. It's a bit cumbersome to use, but fascinating and really informative: http://www.visuwords.com/ Irena answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend: